Mentoring Graduate Students: Toto, Were Not In Kansas Anymore

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Mentoring Graduate Students Toto, Were Not In
Kansas Anymore

• Katherine S. Squibb, PhD
• University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Society of Toxicology Meetings
• March 19, 2008

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Formal Graduate Student Mentoring Choice not
Chance

• Formal relationship
• Purpose of mentoring is to help students develop
  research skills
• Ask the right questions
• Create successful experimental approaches
• Communicate their research
• Learn how to develop professional, collaborative
  relationships
• Learn how to manage their time and focus their
  work

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Graduate Student Mentoring

• Purpose is to help students
• Develop into independent scientists
• Transition from a mentee to a colleague
• How to achieve success?
• Provide students with a learning environment
• Make time for one on one interactions with your
  students
• Establish a relationship that is professional,
  cordial, supportive and honest
• Encourage your students to work together and take
  advantage of outside resources

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Graduate Student Mentoring

• Help students identify specific career goals,
  encouraging them to
• Focus on areas of real interest
• Recognize their strengths and weaknesses
• Identify opportunities to gain experience in
  careers outside academic settings
• Help students develop a training plan that
  includes both short and long term goals
• Always encourage growth and independence

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A Changing World ..Prepare Students for the
Future

• Successful mentoring is sharing the wisdom youve
  gathered from your life experiences - remembering
  that were in a changing world
• Research is becoming more interdisciplinary
• Obtaining research funding is extremely
  competitive
• Increasing focus on translation of basic research

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Prepare Students for the Future

• Research is becoming more interdisciplinary
• Requires both depth and breathe in their
  scientific knowledge
• Requires skills in working as part of a team
• Obtaining research funding is extremely
  competitive
• Requires experience and skills in grant writing
• Requires knowledge of changes in funding
  mechanisms

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Prepare Students for the Future

• Increasing focus on translation of basic research
• Requires an understanding of the impact of basic
  research on medical care, public health and
  regulatory issues

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Advice to Mentees Dont Be Shy

• Choose a good major advisor
• Someone whos successful in the career youre
  interested in
• Grant funded, strong publication record
• Recognized nationally in their area of expertise
• Someone who is still actively involved in
  research
• Someone who is available, approachable, creative

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Advice to Mentees Dont Be Shy

• Interact with other faculty members and postdocs
• Mentor and be mentored by other students
• Take advantage of training resources available on
  campus

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Mentees Take Advantage of Campus Resources

• University of Maryland, Baltimore Student
  Resources
• Writing Center
• Individual, free writing help (manuscripts,
  dissertations, resumes)
• Writing workshops
• Where and how to begin your research proposal
• Grant writing seminars
• Preparing to write a grant
• Developing a fundable research problem
• Tips on revising an NIH grant application
• Job hunting seminars
• Giving a Research Talk
• Communicating to Get the Job

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Mentees Take Advantage of Campus Resources

• Graduate School seminars
• How to give a great presentation
• Careers in science
• How to balance career in science and family
  life
• Annual events
• PhD Career Day
• Speakers with careers in government, online
  publishing, patent and science law
• UMB Graduate Student Research Day
• Awards for research posters and platform
  presentations by grad students campus wide
• Entire day organized by students

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MenteesTake Advantage of On Line Resources

• Writing
• University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center
• http//www.umaryland.edu/student/writing/
• Purdue on-line writing lab OWL
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu
• Grant Writing
• University of Maryland School of Medicine
• All you ever wanted to know about grants
• The question, specific aims and hypotheses
• http//medschool.umaryland.edu/GCRC/documents
• NIH
• http//grants.nih.gov/grants/grant_tips.htm

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Opportunities Through SOT

• SOT Local Chapters
• Many strongly encourage student participation in
  local activities
• Student poster sessions at chapter symposia
• Student representatives on local chapter
  executive boards
• NCAC-SOT Annual Career Day Programs
• After Graduation, Stretching Your Degree to the
  Max
• Conflict Resolution and Negotiating Skills for
  Graduate Students and Postdocs
• Skills You Can Use for Your Future
  Interviewing

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Successful Mentoring Takes Teamwork Between
Mentee and Mentors

• It takes a village to raise a child
• Academic mentors and university resources
• On-line training
• Opportunities to network at local and national
  meetings

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Successful Mentoring Takes Teamwork Between
Mentee and Mentors

• Graduate students benefit tremendously from
  opportunities that
• expose them to new ways of thinking
• career opportunities they didnt know existed
• Mentoring can be as simple as spending 5 minutes
  talking with a student about their research at
  their poster presentations
• Thank You!